Card recording apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a card recording apparatus capable of printing in high speed as well as reducing overall dimensions of the apparatus. After a card is transported to an information recording section  200  in a lateral (short length) direction of the card, an information signal is recorded on the card thereby. Then, the card is transported to a second heating section  300 . An ink image formed on an intermediate recording medium  7  by a first heating section  500  is re-transferred to the card by the second heating section  300 . A warp developed on the card by the second heating section  300  is corrected by a card warp correcting section  400.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a card recording apparatus fortransferring fusing or sublimating ink to a recording medium such as acredit card with magnetic stripes, for instance, specified in JISX6301/6302 or an IC card with an external terminal, for instance,specified in JIS X6303, or a combined card thereof, and moreparticularly, relates to a re-transferring type card recordingapparatus, wherein an ink image is once transferred to an intermediaterecording medium, and is re-transferred to the recording medium from theintermediate recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Arts

There is well known a re-transferring type card recording apparatuswhere an ink image is once transferred to an intermediate recordingmedium and is re-transferred to an recording medium from theintermediate recording medium. In connection with that, various kinds ofcard recording apparatuses have been proposed. As an example, there is acard recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-openPublication 8-48047/96. The description is given to the card recordingapparatus in the prior art, referring to FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a card recording apparatus in the prior art.

As shown in FIG. 8, the card recording apparatus generally comprises anink film 1 extended between a first supply real 6 and a first take-upreal 5, an intermediate recording medium 7 extended between a secondsupply real 8 and a second take-up real 9, a first heating section 500having a platen roller 4 and a thermal head 3 for transferring ink ofthe ink film 1 to the intermediate recording medium 7 by pressing andsupporting both the ink film 1 and the intermediate recording medium 7interposed between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 4, and asecond heating section 300 having a heating roller 14 and a pressingroller 15 for transferring an ink image formed on the intermediaterecording medium 7 to a recording medium 2. The ink film 1 and theintermediate recording medium 7 are transported to the first heatingsection 500 in a closely adhering state. Thereby, the ink of the inkfilm 1 is heated, resulting in an ink image on the intermediaterecording medium 7. After that, the intermediate recording medium 7 istransported to the second heating section 300. Thereby, the ink imageformed on the intermediate recording medium 7 is transferred to therecording medium 2.

This kind of a thermal transfer recording apparatus is referred to as are-transferring recording method, resulting from printing an image onthe recording medium by using the intermediate recording medium 7. Inaddition, the apparatus has advantages to record an image on a wholesurface of the recording medium 2 and to cause no problem upon recordingthe image even when the recording medium 2 has some unevenness thereon.Thus, this kind of apparatus is applied to an image recording for acredit card.

In such a card recording apparatus in the prior art, the card istransported in a longitudinal direction of the card. In FIG. 8, therecording medium 2 is shown as a credit card having magnetic stripes asspecified in JIS X6301/6302. In order to record magnetic informationalong with image information on the card, it is necessary to transportthe card in the longitudinal direction of the card, and to record themagnetic information on the card by using a magnetic head disposed alonga traveling path of the card or by using a separate unit.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view for explaining an exchange of an inkfilm or an intermediate recording medium as a consumable article in thecard recording apparatus of the prior art.

As shown in FIG. 9, constructive members located on the side of the inkfilm 1 in the card recording apparatus of the prior art are installed ina first unit 600. On the other hand, the constructive members includingthe intermediate recording medium 7 and the second supply and take-upreels 8, 9 which are located on an opposite side of the ink film 1, areinstalled in a second unit 700. The first and second units 600, 700 areconnected by using slide members for assembling/separating them in aparallel direction.

However, in the above card recording apparatus, there are problems asfollows.

(1) As the magnetic information and the image information are recordedon the card by transporting the card in the longitudinal directionthereof, a traveling path of the card becomes long, resulting in alimitation to reduce overall dimensions of the apparatus.

(2) A direction of the image printing in the second heating section 300coincides with the longitudinal direction of the card, resulting in adifficulty to print the image at high speed.

(3) The apparatus has a constructive feature that the first and secondunits 600, 700 are detachably assembled by using the slide members,resulting in not only a degradation of a positional precision betweenthe first and second units 600, 700, but also a reduction of a stiffnessof the apparatus.

(4) Upon exchanging the intermediate recording medium 7 or the ink film1, it is a difficult work to extend the intermediate recording medium 7between the second supply reel and take-up reels 8, 9 or the ink film 1between the first supply and take-up reels 6, 5.

(5) In the second heating section 300, the heating roller 14 is used.Thus, upon exchanging the intermediate recording medium 7 or the inkfilm 1, the heating roller 14 is exposed. In order to prevent anoperator from being burnt with the heating roller 14, it is necessary toprovide a shutter geared to the assembling/separating operations of thefirst and second unit 600, 700, or to apply a burning preventiontreatment nearby a metal of the heating roller 14, resulting in anincrement of a production cost of the apparatus.

(6) There is provided a transparent image acceptance layer on theintermediate recording medium 7 for being transferred to the recordingmedium 2 along with the ink image. The transparent image acceptancelayer has a thickness of 1 μm. Thus, a surface of the image recorded onthe recording medium 2 is easily worn.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Accordingly, a general object of the present invention is to provide acard recording apparatus where the above disadvantages have beeneliminated.

More specific object of the present invention is to provide a cardrecording apparatus capable of recording at high speed, of reducing thewhole dimensions of the apparatus and of exchanging the consumablearticles such as an ink film and an intermediate recording mediumeasily.

Another and more specific object of the present invention is to providea card recording apparatus for recording image information on a surfaceof a card having magnetic stripes formed in a longitudinal directionthereof and for recording/reproducing magnetic information on/from themagnetic stripes, wherein the card is inserted into the card recordingapparatus upon operation, the card recording apparatus comprising:transport means for transporting the card in a direction along a shorterside of the card and temporarily stopping transporting the card when themagnetic information is recorded/reproduced on/from the magneticstripes; recording/reproducing means capable of being transported in alongitudinal direction of the card for recording/reproducing magneticinformation on/from the magnetic stripes of the card when the card isstopped, and image information recording means for recording imageinformation on the card along the lateral direction of the card.

Other specific of the present invention is to provide a card recordingapparatus for recording image information on a surface of a cardprovided with an IC having an outer terminal and forrecording/reproducing information in/from the IC of the card, whereinthe card is inserted into the card recording apparatus upon operation,the card recording apparatus comprising: transport means fortransporting the card in a lateral direction of the card and temporarilystopping transporting the card when the information isrecorded/reproduced in/from the IC of the card through the outerterminal; recording/reproducing means capable of being transported in alongitudinal direction of the card for recording/reproducing theinformation in/from the IC of the card through the outer terminal whenthe card is stopped, and image information recording means for recordingimage information on the card along the lateral direction of the card.

Other specific object of the present invention is to provide a cardrecording apparatus comprising: an ink film having a tape-like base filmcoated with a sublimate ink or a defusing ink thereon, the ink filmbeing extended between a first supply reel and a first take-up reel; anintermediate recording medium having a transparent image acceptancelayer separably provided on a base sheet, the intermediate recordingmedium being extended between a second supply reel and a second take-upreel; a first heating section for transferring the ink of the ink filmto the transparent image acceptance layer of the intermediate recordingmedium so as to form an ink image thereon by heating the ink of the inkfilm with the first heating section after the intermediate recordingmedium and the ink film closely attached to each other are transportedthereto, and a second heating section for transferring the ink imagealong with the transparent image acceptance layer to the recordingmedium by heating the intermediate recording medium with the secondheating section after the intermediate recording medium having the inkimage is transported to the second heating section, wherein thetransparent image acceptance layer without the ink image is transferredagain to the recording medium after the ink image together with thetransparent image acceptance layer is transferred to the recordingmedium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a card recording apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of the card recording apparatus along aII—II line shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a partial view of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the card recording apparatus ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cassette with respect to anintermediate recording medium in the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a second heating section of the cardrecording apparatus in the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an outlook of the card recording apparatusof the present invention;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are schematic views for explaining roller mode switchingoperations of first and second heating sections of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a card recording apparatus in the prior art,and

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view for explaining an exchange of an inkfilm or an intermediate recording medium as a consumable article in thecard recording apparatus of the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A card recording apparatus of the present invention is applied torecording image information on surfaces of recording mediums such as acard provided with magnetic stripes formed in a longitudinal directionof the card for recording/reproducing magnetic information, and a cardprovided with an IC having an outer terminal for recording/reproducinginformation other than the image information.

The description is given of an embodiment of a card recording apparatusof the present invention referring to FIGS. 1 to 7.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a card recording apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of the card recording apparatus along aII—II line shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a partial view of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the card recording apparatus ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cassette with respect to anintermediate recording medium in the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a second heating section of the cardrecording apparatus in the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an outlook of the card recording apparatusof the present invention, and

FIGS. 7A to 7C are schematic views for explaining roller mode switchingoperations of first and second heating sections of the presentinvention.

First, the description is given of a construction of the card recordingapparatus in the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an ink film 1 is extended between a first supplyreel 5 and a first take-up reel 6 in such a manner that ink coated onthe surface of the ink film 1 faces to a platen roller 4. The ink film 1comprises a tape base film on which three kinds of color-ink, i.e.,yellow (Y), magenta (M) and cyan (C), or four kinds of color-ink, i.e.,yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K), are periodically coatedby causing them to be in one frame.

DC motors 21, 22 as a driving source for transporting the ink film 1 arerespectively connected to the first supply and take-up reels 5, 6through a reducer (not shown). Each of the DC motors 21, 22 includes anencoder for detecting an angle of rotation and a number of revolution.

The DC motor 21 attached to the first supply reel 5 can be driven in areverse rotational direction of the first supply reel 5 so as to windback the ink film 1 or to give a back tension to the first supply reel5.

Further, the first supply reel 5 is given a constant back tension bychanging an amount of voltage applied to the DC motor 21 in accordancewith a remaining quantity of the ink film 1 of the first supply reel 5.

The detection of the remaining quantity (a roll radius ) of the ink film1 is calculated by detecting an angle of rotation of the DC motor 21which corresponds to a length of one frame of the ink film 1 passingover a sensor 25 mentioned hereinafter.

Likewise, the DC motor 22 attached to the first take-up reel 6 is drivenso as to take-up the ink film 1 as well as giving an appropriate tensionto the ink film 1 by applying a voltage thereto corresponding to a rollradius of the ink film 1. Further, a transport amount of the ink film 1is controlled by detecting it with an encoder (not shown) built into theDC motor 21 or 22.

On a base film side of the ink film 1, a thermal head 3 as the firstheating section 500 is fixedly disposed. On the other hand, on an inkfilm side thereof, a platen roller 4 is movably disposed so that itpresses the thermal head 3 and separates therefrom. Along a travelingpath of the ink film 1, there is provided a sensor 25 for detecting ahead of Y (yellow) ink of the ink film 1. However, a head detection ofink (M, C and K ) other than Y ink is performed by using the encoderbuilt into the DC motor 21 or 22. As the sensor 25, ones capable ofdetecting a detection mark or a color boundary between different colorsmay be used. Further, the ink film 1 is taken-up by the first take-upreel 6 being guided by guide members 26 a to 26 c.

The intermediate recording medium 7 comprises a tape base sheet (notshown), a transparent image acceptance layer (not shown) provided on thetape base sheet and a spalling layer provided between the tape basesheet and the transparent image acceptance layer for spalling thetransparent image acceptance layer from the tape base sheet. Every framerecording, a detection mark is printed on the intermediate recordingmedium 7, and is extended between a second supply reel 8 and a secondtake-up reel 9 in such a manner that the transparent image acceptancelayer faces to the ink film 1.

A pulse motor 31 as a driving source for transporting the intermediaterecording medium 7 is attached to the second supply reel 8 through areducer (not shown), a DC motor 32 is attached to the second take-upreel 9 through another reducer. The DC motor 32 attached to the secondtake-up reel 9 contains an encoder for detecting an angle of rotationand a number of revolutions of the DC motor 32.

The intermediate recording medium 7 supplied from the second supply reel8 is taken-up by the second take-up reel 9 being guided by a guidemember 30 a, via the platen roller 4, a sensor 33 for detecting a headof a frame of the intermediate recording medium 7, guided by anotherguide member 30 b, and passing through between the heating roller 14 anda pressing roller 15 and further guided by other guide member 30 c.

Thus, the transparent image acceptance layer of the intermediaterecording medium 7 faces to ink of the ink film 1 between the thermalhead 3 and the platen roller 4. Further, the heating roller 14 ispossible to press a pressing roller 15 and is separable from thepressing roller 15.

The ink film 1 and the intermediate recording medium 7 mentioned abovehave a cassette shape, respectively. As an example, the detaileddescription is given of a cassette 900 of the intermediate recordingmedium 7 referring to FIG. 4.

On a base plate 50 corresponding to a base of the cassette 900, therespective guide members 30 a, 30 b, 30 c mentioned in the foregoing aredisposed at a predetermined position. Thus, the intermediate recordingmedium 7 is extended along a predetermined traveling path between thesecond supply reel 8 and the second take-up reel 9.

Bobbins 8 a, 9 a to be cores of the second supply and take-up reels 8, 9are rotatably fitted in bobbin receivers 51, 52 provided on the baseplate 50, and they can be disconnected therefrom to allow theintermediate recording medium 7 to be exchanged. On the other hand,there are provided recesses 8 b, 9 b in the bobbins 8 a, 9 a on oppositesides of the bobbin receivers 51, 52 for transmitting a driving powerwhen a reel driving shaft (not shown) of the apparatus is fitted to therecesses 8 b, 9 b, respectively.

Further, on the base plate 50, there are provided a lock pin 53 forlocking the cassette 900, a pair of covers 55, 56, each including aguide section 55 a, (56 a), respectively, for guiding the cassette 900into the card recording apparatus along guide members provided in theapparatus when the cassette 900 is installed therein. Further, there areformed positioning holes 57, 58 thereon for positioning the cassette 900precisely in the apparatus by being engaged with positioning pins (notshown) of the apparatus. In addition, distal ends of the guide members30 a, 30 b, 30 c are fitted into holes (not shown) formed on theapparatus side so as to be precisely positioned.

In FIG. 4, a reference character 7 a designates a frame detection markof the intermediate recording medium 7. Thereby, the position of theframe where an ink image is formed, can be detected when the ink imageis formed on the intermediate recording medium 7.

It should be noted that a cassette for the ink film 1 has the same shapeas the cassette 900 for the intermediate recording medium 7. Thus, thedetailed description is omitted here for simplicity. Hereinafter, theabove mentioned cassettes 900 are referred to as an intermediaterecording medium cassette 900 and the cassette for the ink film 1 isreferred to as an ink film cassette 900 a, hereinafter.

Next, referring to FIGS. 5 to 7, the description is given of the secondheating section 300 and its peripheral construction.

The heating roller 14 is provided so as to press and separate from thepressing roller 15. A driving mechanism of the heating roller 14comprises a pair of first arms 61, 61, a rotary shaft 60 on which thepair of the first arms 61, 61 are fixed, capable of rotating along withthe pair of the first arms 61, 61, a second arm 64 provided on therotary shaft 60 for rotating the rotary shaft 60, a link 65 connected tothe second arm 64 for transmitting a torque to the second arm 64, a cam66 connected to the link 65 for converting a rotary torque to apropulsion force and transmitting it to the link 65, and a steppingmotor (not shown) for driving the cam 66 through a reducer.Incidentally, the heating roller 14 is rotatably supported by the pairof the first arms 61, 61 through a pair of bearings 62, 62 providedtherebetween.

Next, an explanation is given of a construction of the heating roller14. The heating roller 14 generally comprises a cartridge heater (notshown) and such an elastic body as silicon gum coated on the cartridgeheater. The cartridge heater comprises a metal cylinder, a nichrome wirecoiled around an insulation core sealed in the metal cylinder along witha thermocouple for detecting an inner temperature of the heating roller14. Further, there is provided a slip ring 63 at one end of the heatingroller 14 for allowing the nichrome wire and the thermocouple which arerotated upon operation, to be electrically connected to outside devices.

The optimum temperature of the surface of the heating roller 14 dependson a kind of material of a card as the recording medium to be used.However, it is approximately established within a range of 150 to 200°C. The optimum temperature is controlled by energizing or deenergizingthe nichrome wire with a temperature control circuit based on a detectedtemperature from the thermocouple. Further, the heating roller 14 andthe pressing roller 15 are supported by a chassis 67, and theintermediate recording medium 7 extended in the intermediate recordingmedium cassette 900 is installed into an opening section 68 a defined ina case 68 in a direction shown with an arrow “X”. In FIG. 5, a width “H”of the opening section 68 defined in the chassis 67 and the case 68 isestablished to be not more than 10 mm so as to prevent fingers of theoperator from being inserted. In FIG. 5, a reference character 2designates a card as the recording medium, and an ink image formed onthe intermediate recording medium 7 is thermally printed on the card 2by stacking the intermediate recording medium 7 on the card 2.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an outline of a case of the card recordingapparatus of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, there is formed the opening section 68 ain the case68 for installing the intermediate recording cassette 900 and the inkfilm cassette 900 a. The width “H” of the opening section 68 a nearbythe second heating section 300 is established to be not more than 10 mmas mentioned in the foregoing.

The opening section 68 a is generally defined with first and secondopening sections. The first opening section defines a curved lineopening section formed along an outer curved line of each of theintermediate recording medium cassette 900 and the ink film cassette 900a. The second opening section defines a straight line opening sectionformed along an extended path of each of the ink film 1 and theintermediate recording medium 7.

Further, the description is given of a mode switching operation of theheating roller 14 and the platen roller 4, referring to FIGS. 7A to 7C.

As mentioned in the foregoing, the heating roller 14 is pressed orseparated to or from the pressing roller 15 in cooperation with therotation of the cam 66. On the other hand, the platen roller 4 ispressed or separated to or from the thermal head 3.

The driving mechanism of the platen roller 4 is basically the same asthat of the heating roller 14. Specifically, the driving mechanism ofthe platen roller 4 comprises a pair of first arms 71 (71) provided atboth ends of the platen roller 4, a rotary shaft 70 on which the pair offirst arms 71 are fixed so as to be rotated together with the rotaryshaft 70, a second arm 74 provided at the rotary shaft 70 for rotatingthe rotary shaft 70, a rink 75 for transmitting a rotary torque to thesecond arm 74, and a cam 66 for converting a rotary torque to apropulsion force and transmitting it to the link 75, and a steppingmotor (not shown) for rotating the cam 66 through a reducer(not shown).

The pressing and separating operations of both the heating roller 14 andthe platen roller 4 are performed by changing an angle phase of the cam66. The three modes A/B/C of the cam 66 are shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B and7C, respectively.

Specifically, in a mode A shown in FIG. 7A, not only the heating roller14 is separated from the pressing roller 15 but also the platen roller 4is separated form the thermal head 3. In a mode B shown in FIG. 7B, theheating roller 14 is separated from the pressing roller 15 while theplaten roller 4 is pressed to the thermal head 3. In a mode C shown inFIG. 7C, the heating roller 14 is pressed to the pressing roller 15while the platen roller 4 is separated from the thermal head 3.

Next, the description is given of a transportation structure and anoperation of the recording medium in the present invention, referring toFIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

Referring to FIG. 1, a hopper section 100 for storing a plurality ofrecording mediums (referred to as a card hereinafter) 2 is detachablyprovided on the card recording apparatus. In a case 101 of the hoppersection 100, a plurality of cards 2 are arranged in a stack a mannerthat they stand upright in a lateral (short length) direction of thecard 2 to a horizontal plan (a drawing surface of FIG. 1). In FIG. 1, athickness of the card on a lateral length thereof is illustrated. Thehopper section 100 comprises the case 101 provided with a gate to allowone of the plural cards 2 to be discharged, a pick-up roller 102 fortransporting the card 2 to the gate, a spring 103 for forcibly biasingthe plural cards 2 to the pick-up roller 102 through a pressing plate104. The hopper section 100 has a detachable construction to allowitself to be pulled out in a front direction of the card recordingapparatus.

Further, nearby the hopper section 100, there are provided a pair ofcleaning rollers 105 for removing dust attached on the card 2 fed fromthe hopper section 100, a sensor 106 for detecting the card 2 fed fromthe cleaning rollers 105, and a card reversing section 150 provided witha pair of card transport rollers 107 for changing a card transportdirection by being rotated together with the pair of card transportrollers 107 pinching the card 2.

The card reversing section 150 has phases of rotation of four modes asfollows.

(1) accepting the card 2 transported from the hopper section 100.

(2) giving the card 2 to card transport rollers of downstream.

(3) reversing the card 2 upside down.

(4) discharging an encode error card in a direction shown with an arrow“D”, in case that the encode error card are detected in an informationrecording section as mentioned hereinafter.

This card reversing section 150 is disposed nearby an end side of theapparatus. Thus, it is possible to discharge the card 2 from an encodeerror card discharging outlet 150 a without using extra components byslanting the encode error card discharging outlet 150 a in a directionshown with an arrow “D”.

Next, the description is given of a following traveling path of the card2, referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

As shown in FIG. 2A, a pair of card transport rollers 108 (108) (thoughonly one of them is shown here) are disposed so that they have a slantangle “α” of 10 to 40 degree to respective rotary axes of card transportrollers 110 a, 10 b, 110 c. Further, a card contacting length (a rollerlength) “B” of the card transport rollers 108 is made to be not morethan 15 mm, and is disposed to be contacted with the card 2 on a side ofa card guide 109 or an upper side higher than a center line X—X.

Thereby, it is possible to transport the cord 2 smoothly even when thecard transport direction is made to be a lateral direction of the card2. Specifically, when the card 2 is transported obliquely by the cardtransport roller 108, a posture of the card 2 is corrected in such amanner that an edge “C” of the card 2 abuts against the card guide 109.Referring to FIG. 2B, in this case, when an angle β is substantiallysmall and the card contacting length “B” of the card transport roller108 is comparatively small, the card 2 can be readily rotated around theedge C thereof, resulting in no damage developed on the edge “C” of thecard 2 even when a thin card is employed as the card 2. On the contrary,when the card contacting length “B” is made to be comparatively large,the transporting force “Y” of the card 2 becomes large one, however, aforce to interfere the rotation of the card 2 becomes large one,resulting in an adverse effect such as a damage developed on the edge“C” of the card 2.

The card 2 of which posture has been corrected, is passed to thefollowing card transport rollers 110 a by driving a step motor (notshown) for driving the card transport rollers 110 a. When a distal endof the card 2 has been detected by a card sensor 111, a step number ofthe step motor is begun to count. The driving of the step motor isstopped depending on a predetermined count number.

This predetermined count number is determined based on the position ofthe information recording section 200 and a position of the magneticstripes or the outer terminal of the cards and an alignment direction ofthe card 2 in the case 101 of the hopper section 100. Thus, the card 2is held at a position of the card transport roller 110 a or 110 b.

Incidentally, the card transport rollers 110 a and 110 b are made of anelastic body such as a rubber having a large coefficient of friction oran excellent nip characteristic. Thus, it is possible to perform areliable recording of the card 2 because the card transport rollers 110a, 10 b can exert sufficient holding force to the card 2 and excellentabsorption of oscillation thereof upon recording.

In JIS X6302 (MAGNETIC INFORMATION RECORDING MODES OF CREDIT CARDS WITHMAGNETIC STRIPES) there are specified two types of magnetic headscorresponding to [I type] and [II type], and in JIS X6303 (PHYSICALCHARACTERISTICS OF IC CARD WITH OUTER TERMINAL) there is specified acontact section, as a recording/reproducing element.

In the information recording section 200, one or two kinds ofrecording/reproducing elements may be installed solely or in combinationby being selected among the recording/reproducing elements mentionedabove and located on an upper side of the traveling path of the card 2or on both the upper side and the lower side thereof.

Referring to FIG. 3, the information recording section 200 is providedso that it is possible to slide in directions F, F′ shown with doubleheaded arrows which corresponds to a longitudinal direction of the card2 as well as a recording direction of magnetic stripes thereof. In thisembodiment the information recording section 200 provided with amagnetic head 120 is always retracted on the upper side of the travelingpath of the card 2. Upon recording/reproducing magnetic informationon/from the card 2, the information recording section 200 slides in thedirection F to scan the card 2 held at a predetermined positioned alongthe recording direction of the magnetic stripes of the card 2, with themagnetic head 120.

On the other hand, when the contact section (not shown) mentioned aboveis employed as the recording/reproducing element in the informationrecording section 200, the information recording section 200 slides inthe direction F so as to cause the contact section to electricallyconnect with the outer terminals for the IC of the card 2 held at apredetermined positioned, resulting in recording/reproducing ofinformation in/from IC of the card 2.

The card 2 on/from which the magnetic information is not normallyrecorded/reproduced by the information recording section 200, isreturned to the card reversing section 150 and is discharged from theencode error card discharging outlet 150 a. The card 2 having completedthe recording/reproducing is transported to the second heating section300, where the card 2 and the intermediate recording medium 7 aresuperimposed between the heating roller 14 and the pressing roller 15,and are integrally pressed and heated. Thereby, the ink image istransferred to the card 2 from the intermediate recording medium 7.

Here, a distance from the nip position defined by the pressing roller 15and the heating roller 14 to the guide member 30 c is made to be largerthan a lateral length of the card 2. The reason is that according toexperience of the present inventors, a good result is obtained when thecard 2 is separated from the intermediate recording medium 7 at atemperature as low as possible. Thus, the abovementioned constructionenables the card 2 to be sufficiently cooled down by holding the card 2for a predetermined time after an distal end of the card 2 has beenseparated from the nip position, resulting in an excellent printedimage.

The card 2 attached to the intermediate recording medium 7 istransported to the guide member 30 c, and is separated at the positionof the guide member 30 c as mentioned above. Then, the card 2 issuccessively transported to a card warp correcting section 400 shown inFIG. 1, wherein a warp of the card 2 is corrected. The card warpcorrecting section 400 comprises a heating roller 130 having the sameshape as that of the heating roller 14 used in the second heatingsection 300 and a pressing roller 131. The heating roller 130 isprovided in separating and pressing manners to face an opposite surfaceof the image transfer surface of the card 2. The thermal contractiondeveloped in the image transfer process of the second heating section300 is eliminated by heating the opposite surface of the image transfersurface of the card 2. The card 2 having passed through the card warpcorrecting section 400 is discharged out from the card recordingapparatus through card discharging rollers 110 c.

As mentioned above, in the construction of the card transport section,there is disposed the hopper section 100 at a lowest position fortransporting the card 2 one by one in an upper direction by causing alateral direction of the card 2 to be a transport direction. And, thereare disposed other sections over the hopper section 100 in order, i.e.,the card reversing section 150 for holding the card 2 transportedtherein and changing a transport direction of the card 2, theinformation recording section 200 for recording/reproducing informationon/from the information recording section of the card 2 by stopping thecard 2 at a predetermined position, and the second heating section 300for transferring an image on the card 2 at an upper position of thehopper 100 in the apparatus.

Next, the detailed description is given of the processes from theprocess for forming an ink image on the intermediate recording medium 7to the process for transferring the ink image on the card 2 from theintermediate recording medium 7.

When the intermediate recording medium 7 is taken-up with the secondtake-up roller 9 by rotating the step motor 31 and the DC motor 32, thedetecting marks 7 a formed at a predetermined interval are detected bythe mark sensor 33. Depending on the results thereof and a changedamount of each roll diameter, a driving frequency of the step motor 31and a voltage applied to the DC motor 32 are established.

After a positional adjustment between the frame of the intermediaterecording medium 7 and a heading color (a first color) of the ink film 1are performed, the ink film 1 and the intermediate recording medium 7are transported being superimposed between the platen roller 4 and thethermal head 3. The platen roller 4 is not rotated by an outerrotational force, but rotates itself due to a friction force actingthereon from running of the intermediate recording medium 7.

In this state, the ink of the ink film 1 is transferred to the imageaccepting layer of the intermediate recording medium 7 by causing theink thereof to melt or sublimate by providing a predetermined current tothe thermal head 3. Upon forming a color ink image on the intermediaterecording medium 7, each color ink is successively superimposed in turnwith three or four strokes of the intermediate recording medium 7.

After forming the ink image, the transport of the intermediate recordingmedium 7 and the ink film 1 is stopped, (wherein the step motor 31 ismaintained in a holing state, while the DC motor is driven to give anappropriate tension to the intermediate recording medium 7), and theplaten roller 4 is separated form the thermal head 3.

Next, the intermediate recording medium 7 is taken-up with the secondtake-up reel 9 by driving the step motor 31, while a pulse number of thestep motor 31 is being counted. Then, the step motor 31 is stopped at apredetermined count number of the pulse. This pulse number can becalculated from a used driving frequency of the step motor 31 and adistance between the first heating section 500 and the second heatingsection 300.

Here, after the card 2 is transported at the nip position definedbetween the heating roller 14 and the pressing roller 15, the ink imageformed on the intermediate recording medium 7 is transferred to the card2 by pressing the card 2 and the intermediate recording medium 7 withthe heating roller 14 and by simultaneously rotating the pressing roller15 to transport the intermediate recording medium 7 together with thecard 2. After the completion of the image transfer, the heating roller14 is separated from the pressing roller 15.

Upon transferring ink images on both surfaces of the card 2, the card 2attached to the intermediate recording medium 7 is transported backwardand is separated at a position of the guide member 30 b from theintermediate recording medium 7. Further, the card 2 is transported tothe card reversing section 150 through the card transport rollers 110 b,110 c. Thereby, the card 2 is reversed by being rotated by 180 degree.Through the same processes as mentioned above, the ink image istransferred again to the card 2.

In this case, the thermal contraction is not developed on the card 2because both surfaces of the card 2 are heated. Thus, the heating roller130 of the card warp correcting section 400 is omitted. The card 2transferred with the ink image is discharged out from the apparatusthrough the card transport roller 110 c as mentioned in the foregoing.

Incidentally, antiwear qualities of the ink image on the card 2 can beenhanced by transferring the transparent image accepting layer withoutthe ink image several times on the ink image of the card 2.Specifically, it can be done by transferring the transparent imageaccepting layer having no ink image on the ink image by sparing the inkimage forming process using the first heating section 500 or withoutenergizing the thermal head 3. In this case, the card is transportedbackward and forward directions on the card traveling path for eachtransferring of the transparent image accepting layer having no inkimage.

As mentioned in the foregoing, according to the card recording apparatusof the present invention, it is possible to provide a card recordingapparatus capable of not only recording an image signal on the card inhigh speed but also reducing the dimensions of the apparatus easilybecause a transport direction of the card is made to be a lateraldirection thereof.

Further, an intermediate recording medium and an ink film as consumablemembers are respectively provided in a cassette and the cassette isdetachably installed in the apparatus through an opening section definedin the apparatus, resulting in a realization of an easy exchange of theconsumable members.

Furthermore, upon exchanging the consumable members, a heat roller isnot exposed from the opening. This fact enables to exchange theconsumable members securely without providing an additional shatter anda coating treatment on metals of the heat roller.

Further, a transparent image acceptance layer having no ink image istransferred on the recording layer after an ink image is formed on therecording medium, resulting in an enhancement of antiwear qualities ofthe recorded image.

What is claimed is:
 1. A card recording apparatus for recording imageinformation on a surface of a card having magnetic stripes formed in alongitudinal direction thereof and for recording/reproducing magneticinformation on/from the magnetic stripes, wherein the card is insertedinto the card recording apparatus upon operation, the card recordingapparatus comprising: transport means for transporting the card in alateral direction of the card and temporarily stopping a transportationof the card when the magnetic information is recorded/reproduced on/fromthe magnetic stripes; recording/reproducing means capable of beingtransported in a longitudinal direction of the card forrecording/reproducing magnetic information on/from the magnetic stripesof the card when the card is stopped, and image information recordingmeans for recording image information on the card along the lateraldirection of the card.
 2. A card recording apparatus as claimed in claim1, wherein the image information recording means comprises: an ink filmhaving a tape-like base film coated with a sublimate ink or defusing inkthereon, the ink film being extended between a first supply reel and afirst take-up reel; an intermediate recording medium having atransparent image acceptance layer separably provided on a base sheet,the intermediate recording medium being extended between a second supplyreel and a second take-up reel; a first heating section for transferringthe ink of the ink film to the intermediate recording medium so as toform an ink image thereon; a second heating section for transferring theink image formed on the intermediate recording medium to the card; afirst cassette for accommodating, at least, the first supply and take-upreels and the ink film; a second cassette for accommodating, at least,the second supply and take-up reels and the intermediate recordingmedium; and an opening section defined in a chassis for detachablyinserting both the first and second cassettes on the chassis, theopening section being defined with first and second opening sections,the first opening section defining a curved line opening section formedalong an outer curved line of each of the first and second cassettes,the second opening section defining a straight line opening sectionformed along an extended path of each of the ink film and theintermediate recording medium, wherein the ink image is formed on theintermediate recording medium by transporting the intermediate recordingmedium and the ink film closely attached to each other to the firstheating section and by heating the ink of the ink film with the firstheating section, and the ink image formed on the intermediate recordingmedium is transferred to the recording medium by transporting theintermediate recording medium to the second heating section and byheating the intermediate recording medium with the second heatingsection.
 3. A card recording apparatus as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe second heating section further comprises a heating roller, theheating roller being detracted away from the opening section in a periodwhen no ink image is transferred to the recording medium.
 4. A cardrecording apparatus for recording image information on a surface of acard provided with an IC having an outer terminal and forrecording/reproducing information in/from the IC of the card, whereinthe card is inserted into the card recording apparatus upon operation,the card recording apparatus comprising: transport means fortransporting the card in a lateral direction of the card and temporarilystopping a transportation of the card when the information isrecorded/reproduced in/from the IC of the card through the outerterminal; recording/reproducing means capable of being transported in alongitudinal direction of the card for recording/reproducing theinformation in/from the IC of the card through the outer terminal whenthe card is stopped, and image information recording means for recordingimage information on the card along the lateral direction of the card.5. A card recording apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the imageinformation recording means comprises: an ink film having a tape-likebase film coated with a sublimate ink or defusing ink thereon, the inkfilm being extended between a first supply reel and a first take-upreel; an intermediate recording medium having a transparent imageacceptance layer separably provided on a base sheet, the intermediaterecording medium being extended between a second supply reel and asecond take-up reel; a first heating section for transferring the ink ofthe ink film to the intermediate recording medium so as to form an inkimage thereon; a second heating section for transferring the ink imageformed on the intermediate recording medium to the card; a firstcassette for accommodating, at least, the first supply and take-up reelsand the ink film; a second cassette for accommodating, at least, thesecond supply and take-up reels and the intermediate recording medium;and an opening section defined in a chassis for detachably insertingboth the first and second cassettes on the chassis, the opening sectionbeing defined with first and second opening sections, the first openingsection defining a curved line opening section formed along an outercurved line of each of the first and second cassettes, the secondopening section defining a straight line opening section formed along anextended path of each of the ink film and the intermediate recordingmedium, wherein the ink image is formed on the intermediate recordingmedium by transporting the intermediate recording medium and the inkfilm closely attached to each other to the first heating section and byheating the ink of the ink film with the first heating section, and theink image formed on the intermediate recording medium is transferred tothe recording medium by transporting the intermediate recording mediumto the second heating section and by heating the intermediate recordingmedium with the second heating section.